Tag Archives: Los Angeles Times

NBC’s Brian Williams is a liar. Plain and simple. He did not make a mistake. He did not misremember. He lied. When you lie, you are, by definition, a liar. If you do not like that title, don’t lie. I do not know whether he did it for ratings or if he has all the insecurities of an adolescent girl, and I really do not care. That is not the story here. The real story is how other journalists respond to Williams lie. You see, journalists have a moral obligation to tell the whole painful truth, even if they do not like it. Too many of them, like the LA Times’ Stephen Battaglio, too easily abandon that mandate. They pull punches. They let things slide. They promote their personal political agendas instead of reporting the truth. Battaglio cannot bring himself to use the one most accurate word to describe Williams in his article. Battaglio says Brian Williams made a mistake. He says Williams issued a false statement, told a tale, a version of a story, a conflation, an erroneous version, and strayed from the facts, but he refuses to call Williams a liar. That is bad journalism, folks, and it makes me wonder why Battaglio abandons his journalistic integrity and pulls that punch.

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The Knight and the Serpent

The means by which we succeed defines who we are. In the end, our character is all we can take with us. JRG

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A Ration of Chocolate

When Big Brother came for the landowner and took his property away,
I did nothing.
When Big Brother came for the Christians singing carols in the park,
I did nothing.
When Big Brother tried to force pro-life hospitals and healthcare workers to perform abortions,
I did nothing.
When Big Brother created a vast surveillance network that tracked my every move and every word,
I did nothing.
When Big Brother took away my right to bear arms and resist tyranny,
I did nothing.
When Big Brother finally came for me,
I accepted my ration of chocolate and did what I was told, for I would rather live safely in subjugation than risk death as a free man.